Ministries making frantic calls to Parliament to arrange for the introduction of bills after the deadline expired earlier this week came in for harsh criticism on Thursday.
The members of the executive were given until Monday, September 4 to submit bills for processing by Parliament, ahead of the 2024 elections.
This was after an interaction between National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe-Mapisa Nqakula and Deputy President Paul Mashatile in his capacity as the leader of government business.
On Wednesday, it emerged that no further bills were received by the Parliament’s bills office by the deadline.
Briefing the programme committee on Wednesday, Thobile Mbatha said they had not received anything, including a formal documentation showing intention to do so.
“We are receiving calls from parliamentary liaison officers (PLOs) from departments that they still need to send more bills.
“They do call to say there is a number of legislation they still need to send to Parliament, but there is no extension of the deadline,” Mbatha said.
Hope Papo, parliamentary counsellor to Mashatile, said the informal arrangement by the PLOs could not be allowed as the deadline had passed.
“We can’t have informal arrangements,” Papo said, explaining that Mashatile had raised the matter in all Cabinet meetings.
“These informal and clumsy arrangements by PLOs can’t be allowed. I think we should not allow the clumsiness from some of the ministries,” Papo said.
DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube said a deadline was a deadline.
“If the executive has been notified repeatedly of the deadline, we should hold the line.
“We should be supporting you (Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula) in holding the line and say no more shall be submitted after this,” Gwarube said.
Deputy Speaker Tsenoli Lechesa said any additional bills sent to the committee would be disruptive and that there would be no time for their consideration in addition to the work portfolio committees already have.
Mapisa-Nqakula said: “I will interact with the leader of government business to sensitise him of the pressure.”
The committee heard that out of the 42 bills the executive promised to introduce in Parliament this year, only 14 were introduced to date.
Cape Times